09 May 2012

5K Race Day Recap

After following a training program over the last 6 weeks
which told me how often, how far and how fast to run, it all came down to Race Day. My race was actually in the evening (7:30p),
so I focused on drinking water, eating protein and carbohydrates and sneaking
in a 15-minute afternoon nap on race day.
I ate a light dinner at 4p, and nothing after.

Following the advice of my coach (husband) about taking a warm-up
run before the race, I registered my kids for the half-mile race around the
track. My warm-up was running across the
field to cheer one then the other, and at times running alongside to encourage them to the finish. I faulted, however, on his other piece of advice:
to start out slow.

Given the excitement of the race, the fact
that my iPod skipped past my first pace song with my first 5 steps, and the downward grade at the start of the course, I am sure I started out too fast. I always do.

The first two miles were great. The course was relatively flat, there were residents
cheering from their driveways, volunteers encouraging runners at turns and water
stations. It was truly a fun run. Until I began to wonder if mile
three was even marked. Where was it?? I had to be close. Did I already (hopefully) pass it? Time seemed to slow down.

Only had one mishap, a shoelace came untied. And unfortunately, it cost me the glory
of reaching my goal. I wanted to run it
under 25 minutes, and I crossed the line at 25:03. And believe me, I pushed past the rubbery
thighs and burning lungs at the home stretch, kicked it in as I watched the clock
ticking second by second closer to 25. My foot didn't hit the pad until after it read 25.

Oh well, there’s always the next race. No matter how taxing the training seems and how exhausting the
race feels, there is nothing like the rush of racing and the feeling after
completing it. Stay strong, stay
committed and keep on runnin'!

Join us for related articles and links

Updates delivered to your inbox

Followers

About Me

We begin this blog with the goal of sharing what we've learned through training, experience and research about fitness and nutrition. This is for those who want to know how to begin, need motivation, are searching for resources to explore more or ways to share it with their family.